Teens attempted to take down the curator of the account with angsty force.

A large group of Swedish teens formed an unruly mob and then stormed a high school and mall... all over an Instagram account, according to a report from The Local. The account gained more than 7,000 followers before it was shut down, and the enraged teenagers organized via a Facebook event hoping to locate and assault the alleged creator of the account.

The Instagram account started when a user put out a call for tips on "sluts" in the area, and promised to keep tipsters anonymous. The account eventually collected over 200 pictures of kids between 13 and 14 years old, many of them with names and alleged sexual activities attached, according to TheLocal. When the Instagram account was shut down, the teens involved took to a Facebook page to point fingers and verbally assault each other.

Another Facebook page claimed to name the 17-year old girl who started the Instagram account and called for the other teens involved to meet at her high school to beat her up. Teens who met at the school began kicking down lampposts, jumping on cars, and throwing bottles and rocks at police officers who had collected to try to contain the scene.

The event is reminiscent of ones that cropped up around Snapchat, a picture-messaging app where messages self-destruct after a number of seconds (users have opportunistically put this to work as a sexting medium). But the iPhone can still, obviously, take screenshots within the app, leading to collections of the messages, as on the Tumblr Snapchat Sluts (NSFW). No rioting has resulted from Snapchat Sluts because, according to its curator, all of the photos were submitted willingly by their subjects. Welp.

Update: As commenters have pointed out, the photos posted to Instagram were not themselves naked images, but rather pictures of teenagers with names and alleged performed sexual activities attached.

Promoted Comments

What recently has popped up in Swedish social media culture is these kinds of accounts, the people sending in pictures are not being tricked because the pictures are most likely not of themselves. A typical description of such an account like this might be "Send in the latest gossips about the sluts in Gothenburg with something they've done!". Being that in high school, everyone has enemies and knows the latest gossip, person X sends a picture of person Y, that person X hates and says "She slept with ten guys at a party last weekend!", even though that statement might be as far from the truth as possible, just to hurt someone's reputation.

Casey Johnston
Casey Johnston is the former Culture Editor at Ars Technica, and now does the occasional freelance story. She graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Applied Physics. Twitter@caseyjohnston

59 Reader Comments

Does Sweden have less stringent child pornography laws? Or is 13-14 an "acceptable" age for nudity there? I don't want to apply US standards to a European country, but I'm surprised they were able to setup an account like that.

So if they all did similar things that are so "shocking" then why are they so angry everyone found out? Sure if you were the only person then that's different but if your Peers have done exactly the same thing then why be ashamed?

in reply to above comment - Story implies to me that pics were not nudes just pics of the people involved and the text was the "sexy" bit

So if they all did similar things that are so "shocking" then why are they so angry everyone found out? Sure if you were the only person then that's different but if your Peers have done exactly the same thing then why be ashamed?

I think this is the story of human sexuality. We want to do things we don't want anyone to know about because people will ostracize us for doing sexual things which they also do, or aren't very different from things that they do.

So if they all did similar things that are so "shocking" then why are they so angry everyone found out? Sure if you were the only person then that's different but if your Peers have done exactly the same thing then why be ashamed?

I think this is the story of human sexuality. We want to do things we don't want anyone to know about because people will ostracize us for doing sexual things which they also do, or aren't very different from things that they do.

Or, you know, people just don't want others masturbating to naked pictures of themselves. Nope that can't be it.

So if they all did similar things that are so "shocking" then why are they so angry everyone found out? Sure if you were the only person then that's different but if your Peers have done exactly the same thing then why be ashamed?

All couples have sex, but the majority wouldn't want pictures of that on the internet. Doing something socially acceptable, and having the details of that posted in public are two very different things.

Does Sweden have less stringent child pornography laws? Or is 13-14 an "acceptable" age for nudity there? I don't want to apply US standards to a European country, but I'm surprised they were able to setup an account like that.

Sweden's pornography laws do not allow sexually themed pictures of people until they are 18 years of age, but you can have sex legally with anyone consentually at 15.

What a silly world. The teens send their pictures in with details and then get upset when they find out they've been hoodwinked.

The mob mentality has rarely solved anything, and this is not likely to be an exception. The real winner here (assuming the girl didn't get injured) is us, for being able to read about shortsighted teenagers (is there any other kind?) and the amusing mistakes they make.

Angsty? I'm not sure that I would use that word to describe a rioting mob... teenagers or not. Maybe "vengeful" mob, but "angsty" makes them sound like they were staring out at a lake, because high school is such a serious place, and these problems matter.

It's curious that genetically we're very close to both the common Chimpanzee and the Bonobo and still we behave so much more than those violent and crazy chimps and less than the peaceful (and sex-loving) bonobos. I guess there's something going wrong culturally with us.

[Edit: I do not mean to endorse doing what somebody obviously did there - I'm just wondering why we seem so easily tend to use sex as a means to control, humiliate and subdue others.]

There needs to be a way to mark accountability and punish accordingly. We're never going to stop teenagers (or adults!) from having hormones, but we can do something about bitter exes and drama mongers posting photos irresponsibly and getting away with it.

If that includes phones adding metadata about whoever receives the photo so that the the sender and the poster are all known, I think this would make it less likely that kids would incriminate themselves. I'd add the originator's information too, but that seems like an easy way to victimize someone even worse than they already have been.

Maybe it's just as simple as allowing photos to have passwords and preventing the device from taking a screencap when it is visible. If you end up taking a photo with another device of the picture in question, then it that new photo is still tied to your information and thus not worth the potential legal woes.

What a silly world. The teens send their pictures in with details and then get upset when they find out they've been hoodwinked.

The mob mentality has rarely solved anything, and this is not likely to be an exception. The real winner here (assuming the girl didn't get injured) is us, for being able to read about shortsighted teenagers (is there any other kind?) and the amusing mistakes they make.

I think this is more about "branding" some girls as sluts with no actual proof (thankfully). This is NOT about naked pics taken by teens/pre-teens or even sexually active kids. What we have here is the modern version of bathroom stall graffiti ("sally sucks dick" or "for a good time call...").

What a silly world. The teens send their pictures in with details and then get upset when they find out they've been hoodwinked.

The mob mentality has rarely solved anything, and this is not likely to be an exception. The real winner here (assuming the girl didn't get injured) is us, for being able to read about shortsighted teenagers (is there any other kind?) and the amusing mistakes they make.

What recently has popped up in Swedish social media culture is these kinds of accounts, the people sending in pictures are not being tricked because the pictures are most likely not of themselves. A typical description of such an account like this might be "Send in the latest gossips about the sluts in Gothenburg with something they've done!". Being that in high school, everyone has enemies and knows the latest gossip, person X sends a picture of person Y, that person X hates and says "She slept with ten guys at a party last weekend!", even though that statement might be as far from the truth as possible, just to hurt someone's reputation.

What a silly world. The teens send their pictures in with details and then get upset when they find out they've been hoodwinked.

The mob mentality has rarely solved anything, and this is not likely to be an exception. The real winner here (assuming the girl didn't get injured) is us, for being able to read about shortsighted teenagers (is there any other kind?) and the amusing mistakes they make.

Sincerely tragic then. Even if what she did was wrong (if they even had the right person), that doesn't justify brutality.

Reading through some of the comments, some people say that they attacked everyone when someone said "That's him/her!", I'm not certain that's the right girl, but Swedish police say that one 17-year old girl has been arrested.

I think this is more about "branding" some girls as sluts with no actual proof (thankfully). This is NOT about naked pics taken by teens/pre-teens or even sexually active kids. What we have here is the modern version of bathroom stall graffiti ("sally sucks dick" or "for a good time call...").

What recently has popped up in Swedish social media culture is these kinds of accounts, the people sending in pictures are not being tricked because the pictures are most likely not of themselves. A typical description of such an account like this might be "Send in the latest gossips about the sluts in Gothenburg with something they've done!". Being that in high school, everyone has enemies and knows the latest gossip, person X sends a picture of person Y, that person X hates and says "She slept with ten guys at a party last weekend!", even though that statement might be as far from the truth as possible, just to hurt someone's reputation.

I'm not too happy with some elements of this report, particularly the headline and the image caption. Saying "Swedish teenagers rush the doors of a high school attempting to assault the girl who collected compromising photos of them." makes it sound like the pictures were the big deal, when it's actually the hateful and demeaning words accompanying the images that matter.

The images themselves range from your average teenager facebook profile picture to, at the most, fully-clothed but somewhat risque poses. This is not about "sexting" - this is about trying to discredit people by saying that they have performed sexual acts A through Z - your average high-school gossip but on a really vicious level.

If this becomes some sort of bloody sexting debate I will be really, really disappointed. I'd translate a few of the postings to give you an idea of what's up, but it seems like their second instagram account has been taken down.

Here's your average posting on the matter, a synthesis from memory: [AN IMAGE FOUND ON THE VICTIMS FACEBOOK]"[GIRL X] is fucking whore who fucked no less than three guys in less than two hours last weekend and has reportedly been seen in [COMMUNITY-RELEVANT-PLACE-Y] sucking cock for three dollars every weekend since last May. She's a fucking slut and should burn in hell."

So let's not talk about sending nude pictures, pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaase?

EDIT: Reduced profanity slightly, improved formatting massively, noted that I dislike the headline as well as the image caption.

I think this is more about "branding" some girls as sluts with no actual proof (thankfully). This is NOT about naked pics taken by teens/pre-teens or even sexually active kids. What we have here is the modern version of bathroom stall graffiti ("sally sucks dick" or "for a good time call...").

What recently has popped up in Swedish social media culture is these kinds of accounts, the people sending in pictures are not being tricked because the pictures are most likely not of themselves. A typical description of such an account like this might be "Send in the latest gossips about the sluts in Gothenburg with something they've done!". Being that in high school, everyone has enemies and knows the latest gossip, person X sends a picture of person Y, that person X hates and says "She slept with ten guys at a party last weekend!", even though that statement might be as far from the truth as possible, just to hurt someone's reputation.

Note to self: teenagers still terrible, even in other countries.

Did you expect anything else? Some of the stories my Grandparents and Parents tell me from their youth are pretty much the same as my stories from when I was a teenager - lots of sex, violence, drugs and booze.

Given that facial recognition exists, I find it hard to believe there is no technology to detect naked photos. The photo sites could then prevent them from being posted. (That would leave real websites for an outlet.)

It is good to see that the US doesn't have a monopoly on stupid teens.

Does Sweden have less stringent child pornography laws? Or is 13-14 an "acceptable" age for nudity there? I don't want to apply US standards to a European country, but I'm surprised they were able to setup an account like that.

Sweden's pornography laws do not allow sexually themed pictures of people until they've turned 18, but you can have sex legally at 15.

Thanks, good information to know. I'm also glad to hear that this wasn't an underage sexting thing, which is how it appeared from the initial read.

Gossip mongering and mob revenge still makes for a frightening story though.

all over an Instagram account that reposted their private sexts, according to a report from The Local.

Wait, what?

Where did the sexting angle come from?People have been sending in pictures of young girls, and describing their alleged sexual activities. Sexting hasn't even been mentioned (until here, where it's suddenly all over the place).

Lol that sounds hilarious. Stupidity needs immediate punishment. Imagine being one of the parents. I hope this ended with everybody involved getting a nice beating and things being forgotten from there on. Sweden may be anal and nanny state like sometimes but at least they are not as insane as American lawmakers. They would transform this comedy into a drama.

Lol that sounds hilarious. Stupidity needs immediate punishment. Imagine being one of the parents. I hope this ended with everybody involved getting a nice beating and things being forgotten from there on. Sweden may be anal and nanny state like sometimes but at least they are not as insane as American lawmakers. They would transform this comedy into a drama.

Indeed! This is pure truth. The problem with this truth being posted to this story is that naked pictures has nothing to do with this particular incident. Kudos to iG-Wiz for spreading the good word earlier.

I sat down and translated a few of the recent instagram postings (so that y'all could see what it's about) but realized that the language was way to graphic and horrible for the Ars forums. Basically, though, it's someone saying that person X is a slut and a whore and they have done this and that outrageous sexual thing, and with a lot of guys too, and they're such sluts, wow! Only that the tone is vicious and utterly horrible and makes me sick - it's one thing to get this from random 'net haters, it's another to see this from a person who has at the very least met you.

Still, though, this thing is entirely unrelated to sexting. It's all about connecting a person - always named - with acts that the perpetrator considers shameful, in the hope that the life of the target will becomes less enjoyable.

These sorts of "rumors" (bullshit stories) flew around when I was in the equivalent of Junior High, and even then they could in fact damage the lives of people. This is using technology to do the same, only on a more distributed, damaging more anonymous level, with greater potential for damage.

all over an Instagram account that reposted their private sexts, according to a report from The Local.

Wait, what?

Where did the sexting angle come from?People have been sending in pictures of young girls, and describing their alleged sexual activities. Sexting hasn't even been mentioned (until here, where it's suddenly all over the place).

Sorry, the sexting angle was based on the content of the accusations (sexual activities). I've updated that sentence.

Does Sweden have less stringent child pornography laws? Or is 13-14 an "acceptable" age for nudity there? I don't want to apply US standards to a European country, but I'm surprised they were able to setup an account like that.

Sweden's pornography laws do not allow sexually themed pictures of people until they've turned 18, but you can have sex legally at 15.

You can have sex in NJ when our 13 or 14 if the other person is within 4 years of your age.

all over an Instagram account that reposted their private sexts, according to a report from The Local.

Wait, what?

Where did the sexting angle come from?People have been sending in pictures of young girls, and describing their alleged sexual activities. Sexting hasn't even been mentioned (until here, where it's suddenly all over the place).

Sorry, the sexting angle was based on the content of the accusations (sexual activities). I've updated that sentence.

Very good - many thanks. How about fixing the caption and the headline / URL?

all over an Instagram account that reposted their private sexts, according to a report from The Local.

Wait, what?

Where did the sexting angle come from?People have been sending in pictures of young girls, and describing their alleged sexual activities. Sexting hasn't even been mentioned (until here, where it's suddenly all over the place).

Sorry, the sexting angle was based on the content of the accusations (sexual activities). I've updated that sentence.

Thanks. It would have been nice to get the title changed too, but I suppose there might be some technical hurdles in doing that.

The image caption could be changed though. The photos weren't necessarily "compromising", and many (most?) of the mob members weren't actually in any photos.

Quote:

Teens who met at the school began kicking down lampposts, jumping on cars, and throwing bottles and rocks at police officers who had collected to try to contain the scene.

Supposedly they were also throwing snowballs... Dangerous things those...

all over an Instagram account that reposted their private sexts, according to a report from The Local.

Wait, what?

Where did the sexting angle come from?People have been sending in pictures of young girls, and describing their alleged sexual activities. Sexting hasn't even been mentioned (until here, where it's suddenly all over the place).

Sorry, the sexting angle was based on the content of the accusations (sexual activities). I've updated that sentence.

Thanks. It would have been nice to get the title changed too, but I suppose there might be some technical hurdles in doing that.

The image caption could be changed though. The photos weren't necessarily "compromising", and many (most?) of the mob members weren't actually in any photos.

Quote:

Teens who met at the school began kicking down lampposts, jumping on cars, and throwing bottles and rocks at police officers who had collected to try to contain the scene.

Supposedly they were also throwing snowballs... Dangerous things those...